Katie Cameron
A&E Editor
I can only describe alt-rock band Saint Motel in one way: they are the high school band geeks that showed up at their 20th reunion with a gorgeous wife, incredible career and a glint in their eye — everyone’s surprised, and they know it.
The band performed on Monday night at the House of Blues in Cleveland. After a mixed bag of opening acts, with a strong performance by St. Paul-based band Hippo Campus and a less-inspired set by the more immature Weathers, Saint Motel took the stage after 10 p.m.
A large 60s television sat onstage playing vintage videos of rocket launches as band frontman A/J Jackson emerged, donning thick glasses, a vest and a wide-brimmed hat that fell somewhere in the spectrum between Forever 21 clearance rack and Amish summerwear.
Saint Motel opened the concert with a song from their then unreleased sophomore album saintmotelevision, which was released today. The title of the new tracks flashed across the television set, supercut with clips from 60s television and images of 60s bombshells. Jackson and guitarist Aaron Sharp met at film school in LA, and the influence of that education marked itself onto the entire performance. Vintage soundbites and film clips from advertisements and news reports (and even a segment of 1930s swing bandleader Benny Goodman playing clarinet) mingled with Saint Motel’s modern sound to create a hypnotizing sensory experience of chaos and euphoria.
The band continued with a song from their 2014 EP My Type, the album that made them hipster-famous. The crowd, many of whom had been sitting on the floor on their phones (Youths! Miscreants!) before the concert, was now manic. The band radiated a palpable energy, and within ten minutes, the concert had exploded into a dance party to old and new songs alike.
Lyrically, Saint Motel’s music oozes sex, charisma and wit in a way that almost doesn’t make sense. Jackson is so tall that he’s spindly, but his voice croons. Guitarist Sharp is classically trained, but plays with enough swagger that you’d never know. Bassist Dak Lerdamornpong is a former sushi chef jamming alongside a retro horn section, drummer Greg Erwin physically leapt over his drumset. The lyrics are too smart and too snarky to be that sexy, but somehow, the entire thing worked.
A woman in a swimsuit, facing away from the audience loomed behind the band. Her arms were spread perpendicularly, making her body into a long T. The final song the band performed was titled “Born Again.” Jackson climbed onto the television set and spread his arms out in alignment with the Californian crucifixion behind him, and sang a tongue-in-cheek “I cleaned up and found Jesus and she’s waiting at the door — I’m born again.” And with one final wink, I think my jaw actually touched the ground.
Had I seen that performance from any other band, they would have come across as arrogant, offensive and in poor taste. But Saint Motel, by being so obviously nerdy, somehow made the entire performance feel like a victory. And once again. they definitely knew it.
